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`"UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE.

MATTHEW A. CROOKER, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

ARRANGEMENT OF BUCKETS 0F PADDLE-WI-IEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,967, dated October 28, 1856; Ressued April 26, 1859, No. 697.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, MATTHEW A. CRooxER, of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paddle- Wheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification, that is to say:

My invention consists in a peculiar construction of the arms of a paddle wheel, and an arrangement of the buckets on the said arms, whereby the shocks on entering the water are more eifectually broken and the l useful eiect of the bucket while immersed is greatly increased. It has been usual heretofore, in order to do away with the shock as the float enters the water, to construct the wheel insections of which the plane of divi- Sion is at a right angle to the axis, and to set the buckets on the one section midway between the prolongation of the lines' of the buckets which are on the other. `As thus arranged the shocks are multiplied in number, and divided in intensity in direct ratio, but a float on the one section being a short distance in advance of one on the other section so breaks up and disturbs the water in which the second float is to operate that it does not have an opportunity to exert its due power. In my wheel however the floats are immersed to varying depths, those on the one section being generally at a different depth from those on the other.

I construct the wheel with radial arms and in sections, much in the usual manner, but instead of making the periphery of the arms to lie in a true circle I strike a portion or segment of a circle as a termination to the arms of one fourth part of one section of the wheel, and the radius of this circle is to be greater than the radius of the wheel generally. In the drawing annexed it is shown as nearly double, the line (a at) bounding the arms of one quadrant of that section which is nearest the eye, and this is struck from the point (c), The other quadrants of the section are laid off in 'like manner, with an equal radius, and o-ats or buckets of uniform Size are put upon all of the arms. Proper braces (cl) are also put on, just within the floats to hold the arms in place. An additional section of similar construction (e), is then placed on the same shaft but in such position that its longest arms shall come opposite to the shortest arms of the first section as shown, and whereby the iioats of the one will be at their greatest immersion while those of the other are at the least. The floats of one of the sections will thus successively pass through the water at constantly varying depths'while the floats of the other section being at depths varying generally from those of the first which are immersed at the same time, both will be enabled to actagainst water which is less disturbed than by the ordinary construction and hence the slip or loss of effect will also be less.

I claim- The improved method of arranging the buckets or floats of a paddle wheel when the buckets are to be broken into sections-that is to say by arranging each set or section of buckets along four arcs which circumscribe the periphery, and which arcs are struck with a radius greater than the semi-diameter of the wheel, each set of buckets when placed upon the shaft being arranged so that the place where the arcs of the one set meet, shall stand opposite to the center of an arc in the adjoining set, if the wheel be composed of but two sections, or when of more than two sections shall be divided proportionally.

MATTHEW A. CROOKER. Witnesses:

S. I-I. MAYNARD, THOMAS DUCEY.

[FIRST PRINTED 1912.] 

